#1012 EXCUSE ME!

But don't excuse yourself. "I don't have time to exercise." No, the truth is, exercise is not important to you.

I have begun to make this mental adjustment in my thinking and found that it has a purgative effect on my excuses. It boils my thought down to the bare truth. Training that voice in my head to say that something isn't important enough gets me to change how I think and act.

When I am about to blow off an exercise session, "I don't have time today" lets me off the hook.

I get busy and not having time is a viable reason not to exercise, insinuating that I will make up for it another time. The qualifier "today" is there to assuage my guilt by implying that I will make it up tomorrow. We all know that's a rationalization.

But when I replace the time excuse with "exercise isn't important enough to me to squeeze it in today," I can't swallow that as easily. Exercise IS important to me, so I rejig the schedule and get a quick cardio or weight session in.

I don't have time to make those new business calls today is justifiable. I have a ton of work in front of me and lots of requests to fulfill. I have 100 messages in my inbox, not to mention those I tagged for later, earlier this week. Instead, "Finding new business is not important to me" knocks me off my excuse perch. It is vitally important to me! Without bringing in new business, I will be out of business! What can be more important?!

It's easy not to have time for some of the less pleasant things we must do, but it's tough to convince yourself they aren't important. Flip the script with me and see if it makes a difference for you too.

Own Your Sales Gene…